Tom Dean has admitted that he was surprised to be the first person voted off this year's Strictly Come Dancing at the weekend.
The Olympic swimming hero, 24, and his partner Nadiya Bychkova lost their place in the competition following a dance-off against Toyah Willcox and Neil Jones, with the judges voting 3-1 against keeping Tom.
The result has generally been met with shock as Tom had ranked around the middle of the leaderboard, while singer Toyah had finished in last place.
Speaking on It Takes Two on Monday, Tom admitted: "I definitely wanted to go further in the competition. I'm gutted, there's no two ways about it, and I've thought about it loads, we've spoken about it loads, and I did give it my all. There was nothing more I could have given, and I loved every part of it.
"Some people find the training really tough, and they just enjoy the shows or the other way around, I loved it all. We trained really, really hard together, I had a great time.
"I loved the shows on a weekend, it was really special, there was no bit I didn't enjoy. So for it to get cut short like that, was just gutting, and as I said, I don't know what more either of us could have done. It was a genuine shock, I just wish I could have kept going, I really, really do."
Nadiya added: "It was a shock and I'm absolutely gutted that I won't get the chance to teach this wonderful man another dance, and then maybe another dance.
"We had so many plans, I was really excited about Movie Week, what we could have done and the dance we were preparing, I had all the choreography."
"I just really love the show, but being able to teach someone like Tom made me fall in love with the show even more. It was really, really special, and I genuinely enjoyed every moment of our rehearsals, every time he walked into the room, he just brought joy, and he brought joy to Strictly."
Strictly continues with Movie Week this Saturday at 6.25pm on BBC One.
Neil Wilkes
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